Can wiping and shielding mechanism



1951 P. F. LINDEMAN ET AL CAN WIPING AND SHIELDING MECHANISM 2SHEETS--SHEET 1 Filed Nov. 8, 1949 S m m w/ a 1 5 T L. r F A w M U J 7mm 1951 P. F. LINDEMAN ET AL 2,573,721

CAN WIPING AND SHIELDING MECHANISM Filed NOV. 8, 1949 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2INVENTORS PHIL /P F LINDEMA/V VEPNON J: SIMMEN v A TTOENE').

Patented Nov. 6,1951

UNITED "STATES OFFICE wear; l

CAN WIPING AND SHIELDING-MECHANISM Philip F. ,Lindeman, Berkeley, andVernon J. Simmen, San Francisco, Calif; assignors to Pacific CanCompany, San Francisco; Calif., a corporation ofNevada ApplicationNovember 8,1949, scam... 126,196

iolaims. (or 113- 91) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in can wiping and shielding mechanism and has particularreference to rotary baffies or shields used on can body makers in conbyme ns of lugs I i on conveyor chain 12 between a ".librizontallydisposed, opposed, arcuate "guide- 'ways' IS with the side scams [4positioned underneath. Successive cans are spaced apart a predetermined;uniform distance, said distance junction with wipers which remove excesssolder I 5 beingi'a function of the height and diameter of from the sideseams of cans. the cans and other factors not here necessary It iscommon practice in the art of can bodyto detail- The bottom portions ofthe guideways making, after the formation of theside seams are cutaway,exposing the bottom portions of of cans, to apply solder to the exteriorof the they cans, including the side seams [4 thereof. side seam andthen to wipe ofi the excess solder \0 As the cans are moved along theguideways, the by means of a rotating wiper wheel which re- 'side seamsare wiped by revolving wiper wheel moves the solder as the side seams ofthe cans 6, the seam I4 being approximately tangent to pass over theperiphery of the wheel. Such the periphery of the wheel. The wiper wheell6, wiper wheels may be made of a plurality of suas has been stated, maybe constructed in variperposed discs of fabric, of brushes, or of varil6ous ways and of various materials. In the acous other materials.companying drawings it may be considered as One of the problemsencountered in the use of formed of a plurality of disc-like layers offabric such wipers is the throwing of solder inside the fixed to hub H,which is attached to pulley I8. can following the particular can beingwiped by ulley s d v y belt 9, which is in turn reason of the fact thatsolder removed by the driven by pulley 2|, connected by bevel gears 22wiper tends to fly ofi the periphery of the wheel to. lower drive shaft23, which is driven by the tangentially and the trajectory of the soldermay power source of the bodymaker machine. The pass inside the open endof the can following Wiper wheel l6 rotates in a vertical plane at athat being wiped. The presence of solder inside rapid rate about an axistransverse to the dieans is, of course, deleterious, The present in- 25rection of movement of cans ll] so that the pevention is a means ofpreventing solder from p y passing over e S am l tends to drive reachingcan interiors by the use of a shield su p 5011191 a d y 0f e It w bewhich intercepts the same. understood that the solder adhering aboutseam Other features of the invention are its simi4 is not yetset, andhence the wiping action of plicity and low cost of construction, thefact the wheel removes the'excess. Some of the solder that it may beinterchanged for cans of various may be' carried around by wheel It to ascraper sizes, and the ease with which the timing of the (not shown)which removes it, but quite frerotation of the baffle may be regulated.quently solder tends through centrifugal force With the above and otherobjects and advanf to be'thrown oii the wheel tangentially. As willtages in view, the invention consists'in the matbe seen particularlywith reference to Fig. 1, ters hereinafter set forth" and moreparticularly when the wiper reaches the rearward end of leadpointed outin the appended claims, reference ing can ma, tangential projection ofthe solder being had therein to the accompanying drawmight cause thesame to lodge within the open ings, in which: a end of following canlllb, were it not for the in- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion ofa body- 40 terposition of baffle 26. maker with the device installed,the same being Bafile 26 rotates about a horizontal axis paralparifiallyProken a in'sectioni lel to the direction of movement of the cans andFig. 2 1s a vertical section taken substantially directly beneath theaxis of Said cans" It hne 2-2 1; cludes a concave shield portion 21,which may i Z a fi g i g 3 i? th be interchanged for various sizes ofcans, welded 3 a en 5 an e to hub 29 which is, in turn, connected tosprocket ofFlg' 32 h it 3| s a h ft h h d Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are schematicplan views taken on S a a1 a w 10 to in various positions of rotation ofthe shield; and F by sprocket 1S loutnafned m 'bmqket Fig. s is a viewof a modification similar to so ngldly the mam of the chine withanti-friction bushing 34 interposed As indicated in the accompanyingdrawings, between Shaft and bracket? Washer 35 cans l0, having beenformed inabodymaker and holds a Shaft Within Said bracketi- Th havinghad their side seams soldered by the ap- Sprocket 32 is driven y p t 3 ac ed to plication of a surplus of solder, are carried along 68 driveshaft 23. A take-up sprocket 38 is mounted on adjustable take-up bracket39 to insure conspect to rotation of shaft 23 and thus adjust therelative timing of shield 2'l-and conveyor-inn being understood thatconveyor l2 and shaft 23 may be driven from a common soll tcefof wer;Shield 21 is concave, withtheonen' end thereof directed toward wiperWheel 16, the wheel being almost tangent to the interior wall of shield21 with only a slight clearance betweeri the periphery of wheel 16 andshield 21. The shield is frusto-conical in shape, and the angle between"the sides of the shield anda vertical plane is i preferably about 37 /23is partly within the confines of the concavity of the'shield 2'1. ofpolished stainless steel or other suitable-material to which solder willnot readily adhere.

. The shape of shield Zlis one of the important jfffeaturs of thepresent invention. Itis so con- 'structed that as it revolvesin timedrelation to 'the progress of cans 10 along conveyor l2 the ele- ..vationof the periphery of the shield above its Thus the wiper wheel {I 6 Saidshield is preferably made axis of rotation 4| increases and diminishes.This elevation of the periphery 42 may be expressed in terms of lengthsof radii erected normal to the axis of rotation 4| of the baflle, saidradii being measured from said axis to said periphery at a nt vertically.above the axis. Thus as leading The difierence betweenri and m is aboutone-third the. diameter of the can. The lobe 43 portion f of theperiphery extending upward so as to be. interposed in the path of travelof the cansbe- "tween the leading can lfla and following can I012 thusintercepts solder thrown off by wiper wheel :"I 6 and prevents it fromentering the following can. Thus the maximum radius r2 remains con-;stant during the angular'travel a3, after which" the following canmoves over the bafile and hence the radius must diminish to T1.

However, it will be apparent in view of the fact that the shield 27 isin the form of a cone, that the bottom or seam it part of the followingcan lllb first interceptsthe conical outline of the shield before thehigher portions of the can intersect said conical outline and hence intheangular travel M the periphery is notched-out" so as to utilize'thesolder-intercepting function of ear 46 while permitting forward movementof the can through notch 44 cut in the shield, said notch being formedwith its inner. edge having a radius T1 and extending inward throughthean gular spread a4 and its other edge connecting with the end of theportion of the periphery having ra- 4 is in position over the baflie theperiphery is retracted and does not interfere with the passage of thecan. (Fig. 5.) When the leading can Illa passes the baiile (as shown inFig. 6), the periphcry 52 is elevated and hence intercepts solder."'Asthe following can [0b approaches the baffle,

the bottom part of the forward edge (i. e. the for- .ward end of seaml4) first contacts the outline of the shield and so the shield isnotched out at 44' to-permi t.-ear..4B to continue to be interposed,infront of the following can during angular travel 644.;liifthisfmanner the shield protects the can interior,- from solder forthe longest possible period Ear Mirnay bebobbed oiT as suggested by dot-"ted line' ll" in'Fig. 3 as the extreme end of ear .46 is not essentialinasmuch as its area is insufficient to intercept solder thrown outsidea re- -gstrictedipath andlitspresence requires more carefultimin'g ofthe moving parts to avoid interference with cams. y

It will be understood that as a modification '..illustrated in'Fig. 8,two lobes 5| may be employed. The shield 52iisthen caused to rotate atone-half revolution per can.

The-shield 2'! or 52 may be considered a change part for the machinedepending upon the height and diameter of cans Ill being formed. Thusthe -leng-th-of-angular distance as is increased for shorter cans andreduced for taller cans, and likewise for various can diameters.

V Itwill be understood that whereas a preferred embodiment of theinvention has been described 35, and illustrated, changes may be madetherein i -without, departing from the spirit of the invention and scopeof the appended claims.

" What is claimed is:

l. In combination, guideways confining the Q path of movement ofopen-ended cans in a ,straight line, a conveyor for moving said cans Jina direction parallel to their axes in uniformly .spa' cedrelationalong said guideways, a wiperpov "sitioned to remove surplussolder from said Cams 1 h hile moving. along said guideways, a concave,

"rotatably-mounted shield having a frusto-conical e gterior andhaving-its axis of rotation parallel to"t he. directionof movement ofsaid cans posinedh'etween said wiper and the source of -said w cans, andmeans for rotating said shield in timed relation to movement of saidconveyor, said shield-having a peripheral lobe, said lobe being 4 shapedand the relative timing of saidconveyor and said rotating wiper beingsuch that themaxirnumcelevation of the periphery of said lobe incre asesand. diminishes during the cycle of rotation of said shield and duringthe maximum elevation of said lobe said lobe is interposed in vthe spacebetween a leading and a following can toshield said following can fromsolder splash f rom-saidwiper, said lobe being notched in its trailingedge to form an ear, said notch having one edge with its radial distancefrom said; axis of rotation of, said shield nogreater than the ele- 5vation of the lowermost portions of said cans moving along saidguideways above said axis of rotation, said notch having another edge ofin- ,-creasing ly-greater distance from said axis of rotation, thejuncture of said last-named two edges beinglocated spaced inwardly fromsaid trailing :-,edge oi said lobe soathat when saidjuncture is .uppermost the ioremost and lowermost portion git-said followingcanprojectsthroughsaid notch and assaid shield revolves an increasing portion ofsaid following can projects through said notch in position and permitreplacement of said shield I to accommodate cans of different heights.

4. In combination, guideways confining the path of movement ofopen-ended cans in a straight line, a conveyor for moving said cans in adirection parallel to their axes in uniformly spaced relation along saidguideways, a wiper positioned to remove surplus solder from said canswhile moving along said guideways, a concave, rotatably-mounted shieldhaving a frusto-conical exterior and having its axis of rotationparallel to the direction of movement of said cans positioned betweensaid wiper and the source of said cans, means for rotating said shieldin timed relation to movement of said conveyor, said shield having aperipheral lobe, said lobe having a maximum radial distance from saidaxis of rotation greater than the radial distance of the remainder ofthe periphery of said shield, said lobe having an arcuate length andangular position such that said lobe may be interposed in the spacebetween a leading and a following can to shield said following can fromsolder splash from said wiper, and an ear on the trailing edge of saidlobe formed by a notch extending inwardly and in a direction oppositethe direction of rotation from the trailing end of said lobe, theinnermost point of said notch having a radial distance above said axisof rotation no greater than the distance of said cans above said axisand said innermost point being angularly related to the rotation of saidshield and movement of said cans so that the foremost and lowermostportion of said following can projects through said notch and as saidshield revolves an increasing portion of said following can projectsthrough a widening portion of said notch and said ear shields theremainder of the interior of said following can from solder splash.

PHILIP F. LINDEIMAN. VERNON J. SIMMEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,433,068 Sedwick Dec. 23, 1947

